UK: Complaints over Waitrose social media marketing
Waitrose, a British supermarket, recently posted “Hot or Mild” a “like or share post” in which community members are asked to like the post if they prefer hot food and share if the prefer mild food, they then advertise for their chillies. Sainsbury’s tried a slightly different approach by getting people to “thumbs up” if “they make the best chilli”, drawing on their competitive side, and then asking the open question “what do you add to yours to give it the wow factor”.
Waitrose post resulted in far more people liking it than average. However, WaveMetrix human analysis shows some Waitrose fans react negatively as they feel Waitrose is “lowering itself” and are “fed up” with like and share marketing or say that Waitrose food “isn’t hot like it is labelled”. Sainsbury’s post does not receive a negative reaction, suggesting the “thumbs up” approach with an open-ended question, does not risk a negative response, although it drives less likes.
Source: wavemetrix.com
